Chapter 422

When Bu Yonghan returned to the Second Prince Mansion, her face did not look good. Nurse Wu hurriedly greeted her, “Your Highness, are you okay? I have asked someone to make red dates and red beans porridge. Eat some first.”

Bu Yonghan sat on the bed and felt better. “Nurse Wu, call all the head servants in the mansion over. I want to lecture them.”

“Your Highness, you are not feeling well right now. It’s better to wait and decide later.”

“Wait? I just got married and I am a princess of another country. If I can’t set the rules for the servants immediately, who will have respect for me in the future?” Bu Yonghan frowned and scolded coldly. She only felt that Nurse Wu was particularly an eyesore.

“Yes.” Nurse Wu had no choice but to order people to go and call for the head servants. However, she felt quite disapproving of Bu Yonghan’s decision in her heart. The right to manage the backyard would belong to her sooner or later. There was no need to rush at this moment. Not only could she not convince the servants, but she would also make the Second Prince believe she was eager to seize power. The gains simply did not make up for the losses.

After returning to the mansion, Baili Jinchuan went straight to the study. After hearing his subordinate report on Bu Yonghan, he frowned slightly. “Let her be. There is no need to mind it.”

Inside the Fifth Prince Mansion, Baili Junyi helped Shen Ninghua take a walk. After walking for a quarter of an hour, they sat at the side to rest. “Ninghua, has our daughter been a good girl?”

Shen Ninghua gently touched her abdomen. “In my early pregnancy, I had a hard time. Now, the child is extremely stable and rarely moves around.” If she had not checked the child’s pulse to confirm that the child was doing fine, she would have been a little worried about it. Alas, this child was really a little too indolent.

Baili Junyi placed his hand on Shen Ninghua’s. “It’s fine for a girl to be indolent. Look at how much of a good girl Baby Girl is.”

Shen Ninghua smiled. “Only you think she is a good girl.”

Hong Ling walked in quickly, her expression a little bad. “Your Highness, Miss, something happened to Madam Xia.”

Shen Ninghua frowned. “What’s going on?”

“I have already sent people to protect Madam Xia. Who knew that not long after she left the city, she bumped into a beggar. Nobody knew what stimulated her, but she rushed straight into the nearby forest. Our man lost her, and he couldn’t even find a trace of her.”

“How is this possible? How can a living person disappear for no reason?”

Hong Ling felt ashamed. “It’s all my fault for being careless. The person I sent out was a newbie who has just been trained. He hasn’t dealt with these things alone before, so…”

Shen Ninghua interrupted her. “It’s useless to say this now. Is there anything special about that beggar?”

“I have asked people to watch him. The beggar entered the city, turned around seven or eight streets, and then entered a casino.”

“A beggar entering a casino?”

“He was just pretending to be a beggar, but in fact, he was a gambling addict. Someone gave him money and asked him to deliberately bump into Madam Xia. Then, he stuffed a note to Madam Xia. I asked what the note was about, but the gambling addict was illiterate, so he couldn’t tell what it said.”

Shen Ninghua frowned and pondered. “The reason for one to take advantage of Xia Jingqiu must be simply related to Yang Yingxue. And the one that Yang Yingxue could implicate is either Qi Ying or me. Qi Ying is already dead, and the Qi Family has succeeded in suppressing the Lin Family. Now that more than half of the Lin Family has fallen, there is almost no room for them to fight back so that they should not need Xia Jingqiu. Therefore, the real goal should be to deal with me.”

“Miss, your analysis is reasonable. But who has such great ability to make a person disappear out of thin air and make our people unable to find any trace of her?”

Shen Ninghua thought for a long time and was somewhat confused. “There are many people with this ability, including the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, Bu Yonghan, and even the Fourth Prince, but we cannot be sure. Junyi, do you have any ideas?”

Baili Junyi’s eyes were cold. “We can’t be sure of the target. There are many people who have enmity with us. Now that Father Emperor trusts us, everyone else thinks of us as a thorn in their side. You and I are a husband and wife. No matter which of us gets unlucky and gets into trouble, the other will be implicated. Now that we can’t determine the target, we can only wait for them to make a move. Ninghua, you can rest assured first. I will get someone to help find Madam Xia and also ask the men in Jiangnan to investigate whoever had contact with Yang Lian in the past. Don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

“Yes, we can only do this for now.”

Originally, he thought that the people behind the scenes would definitely cause a ruckus in these few days, but it was unexpectedly quiet. Whether in the court or the harem, nothing happened.

Two days later, Baili Qingcang issued a decree to hold the autumn hunt and requested all the princes and ministers to participate.

Baili Junyi was a little worried. “Ninghua, you are pregnant now. You had better rest in the mansion.”

“Yes. I will not participate. Tomorrow, when you enter the palace, please apologize to Father Emperor for me.” The journey would be tiring, and Shen Ninghua was not very interested either.

However, on the second day, when Baili Junyi returned from the palace, his expression was rather gloomy. Shen Ninghua was intrigued and could not help but ask, “What’s wrong? Did Father Emperor not allow me to take leave and not participate in the autumn hunt?”

Baili Junyi nodded. “Yes. Today, I went to talk to Father Emperor about your situation. Father Emperor said that you are now five months pregnant and it is a safe period, and that you can take advantage of this time to walk around and enjoy the outdoors. You don’t have to ride a horse during the autumn hunt. When the time comes, you can just stay by Noble Consort Qi’s side and chat with her.”

After hearing this, Shen Ninghua smiled slightly. “If Father Emperor wants me to go, then I’ll go. He is right. The fifth month of pregnancy can be considered stable. It will be fine.”

However, Baili Junyi did not think so. “Someone must have said something to Father Emperor. Otherwise, why would the first thing he said be that you are in the safe period? He also said that you can chat with Noble Consort Qi. Noble Consort Qi now has a daughter-in-law, and she can keep Noble Consort Qi company. I feel it is weird for Father Emperor to ask you to keep her company instead.”

Shen Ninghua also felt that something was wrong. However, if Baili Qingcang asked her to go, not to mention five months, even if she was nine months into pregnancy and was almost going into labor, she had to go. “We just take more care when the time comes.”

Baili Junyi took her into his arms and gently stroked her neck. “Ninghua, am I useless?”

Shen Ninghua could not help but smile. She held his hand and gently placed it on her belly. “Dear daughter, go and comfort your father. Look, he is starting to doubt himself.”

Coincidentally, the moment Shen Ninghua finished speaking, she felt her belly being kicked. Baili Junyi’s arm suddenly froze. When he came back to his senses, he was so happy that he almost jumped up. He carefully helped Shen Ninghua sit down. He then hurriedly ran to the front of her and pressed his ear against her belly. “Daughter, good daughter, don’t worry. Father will definitely protect you and Mother.”

Inside Second Prince Mansion, after hearing the news of the autumn hunt, Bu Yonghan was extremely happy. In the Great Yue Kingdom, her riding and shooting skills were very good. Now that she had a chance to show off, she naturally couldn’t miss it.

“Nurse Wu, did His Highness say that he will come to my room today?”

“Your Highness, His Highness said that he is still sleeping in the study today.”

The smile on Bu Yonghan’s face disappeared with a swoosh. “In the study again? Is there any news about the matter I asked you to investigate?”

“Your Highness, I have sent people to investigate. Every time His Highness sleeps in the study, no woman is around to serve him.”

Bu Yonghan tightly gripped the handkerchief in her hand. Her expression was very gloomy. In the first three days after the wedding, Baili Jinchuan would definitely sleep in her room. However, other than the wedding night, he had not touched her for the remaining two days. Moreover, after three days, he immediately went to the study room and never stepped into her room again. Sometimes, even when she personally asked someone to invite him, he did not come.

Originally, she thought that Baili Jinchuan was sleeping in the study because he had summoned other women to serve him, but she did not expect that after Nurse Wu investigated, it was found out that there was no one to sleep with him.

“Nurse Wu, do you think His Highness is tired of me?” Bu Yonghan frowned tightly. Right now, there were many people in the mansion who secretly said that she was not liked by the Second Prince and that she lost favor right after marriage. Although she severely punished the gossiping servants, the fact that they did not say something out loud did not mean that they wouldn’t think about it!

However, Nurse Wu felt that it was not something too serious. “Your Highness, the most important thing right now is to remain calm. Whether His Highness comes to the main courtyard to rest or not, you are still his Princess Consort. You are the backyard servants’ master. At this time, you need to remain steady.”

“I understand this principle. I just feel unsatisfied…” Bu Yonghan narrowed her eyes. “Nurse Wu, do you think His Highness has someone else in his heart?”

“Well… I can’t say for sure.”

Bu Yonghan slightly pursed her lips, and a dangerous light flashed in her eyes. “No matter who was once in his heart, I will definitely be the one who has his heart from now on! I will make him fall in love with me, just like how Mother Empress treats Father Emperor. I will hold his heart tightly and assist him in continuing to move forward. In the end, he will stand at the highest position and put the beautiful phoenix crown on my head!”

Nurse Wu could not help but open her mouth to persuade Bu Yonghan, “Your Highness, things cannot be rushed. Especially now that Da’an Kingdom’s Emperor is healthy, his control of the court is very strong. Things have to be done step by step, a little at a time, so that there will be hope. Most importantly, you have to hold on to the Second Prince’s heart. This way, when he stands in that position, he will give you the supreme glory.”

Otherwise, that glory would have been easily snatched away by someone else. Moreover, Bu Yonghan’s identity determined that she would have to be even more careful and her journey would be even more difficult than her mother’s. It was not known if Bu Yonghan had that kind of patience. Before her mother was made the Empress, she had accompanied the Emperor for twenty years…

“I understand. Don’t worry, I know what to do.” Bu Yonghan’s eyes were firm as she vowed.

After preparing for a few days, Baili Qingcang set off with a large group of people and departed the capital city in a grandiose manner.

Shen Ninghua sat in the carriage, with Hong Ling and Xia Rouqin by her side. Qing Que and Bi Zhu were left in the capital to look after Big Boy and Baby Girl.

The carriage was equipped with thick mattresses, and the walls of the carriage were wrapped in cotton so that the touch was especially soft. Shen Ninghua leaned against the pillow and looked out through the gap in the window. Occasionally, she could see trees that flashed by.

Only when it was time to rest at noon did Shen Ninghua have a chance to get out of the carriage. Hong Ling and Rouqin carefully protected her as she moved around. Staying in the carriage for a long time was boring.

Bu Yonghan was dressed in a red riding suit. The neat and concise design added a bit of heroic spirit to her. Her clothes were cut very well, outlining her full chest and slender waist. What was more, the flaming red clothes made her look particularly eye-catching.